Florence Welch is writing music and lyrics for a future stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby on Broadway. She is joined by Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Martyna Majok and the musician Thomas Bartlett, also known as Doveman. The project is currently dubbed ‘The Great Gatsby, A New Musical’.
The production timeline and cast are yet to be announced. The musical will be directed by Rebecca Frecknall, whose 2019 production of Tennessee Williams’s Summer and Smoke won an Olivier award. An original cast recording will be released by Warner Music.
Of her involvement with the production, Welch said “This book has haunted me for a large part of my life. It contains some of my favourite lines in literature. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald’s broken romanticism. It is an honour to have been offered the chance to recreate this book in song.”
The story follows wealthy businessman Jay Gatsby and his obsession with socialite Daisy Buchanan. It is known for its lyrical prose and meditation on the American dream.
2021 marks the year that Fitzgerald’s novel entered the public domain, meaning it is no longer affected by copyright law and can be used without any legal restrictions. It has previously been adapted for the stage, TV and radio several times, and most notably into a 2013 film by director Baz Luhrmann.
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